Totalitarianism is a political system in which the government has total control over all aspects of public and private life, often characterized by a single-party rule, propaganda, censorship, and suppression of dissent. Depression era Europe was a time of economic hardship and political instability, which enabled totalitarian regimes, such as those of Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy, to rise to power. These regimes exploited the economic crisis and social unrest to establish authoritarian control over their respective countries.
